UK lending pick-up lifts hopes

British bank lending to businesses rose for the third month in a row in March.

Net lending to non-financial firms increased by STG2.7 billion ($A5.24 billion), its strongest increase since the Bank of England data series began in May 2011.

There were increases of STG1.3 billion in February and STG1.9 billion in April.

Within the lending totals, small and medium sized enterprises (SMEs) saw growth of STG293 million in March, though this was lower than February's STG584 million.

However, the 12-month growth rate was still a negative, at -0.5 per cent and -1.0 per cent for SMEs.

Howard Archer, chief UK and European economist at IHS Global Insight, said: "The pick-up in bank lending to businesses in March supports hopes that the UK economy is still well placed for decent growth."

He added that the figures added to suspicions that recent signs of weakness - with gross domestic product growth slowing in the first quarter - mainly reflected increased caution ahead of next week's General Election.